Hello all! I bring you yet another PAW Patrol fic- jeez, I've got the bug or something, it's been awhile since I've had so many ideas for one particular fandom!

I hope you guys enjoy! Own nothing, the usual.

Caretaker

Chapter 1-Worry

Since they were first adopted, trained and became the PAW Patrol, none of the pups have ever seen Ryder come down with a cold. Not even so much as a sniffle, nothing.

Ryder had a difficult job, just like the young pups, and even still, he had always been there for them. Each pup could remember times they've been sick or injured, and how the ten year old brother-like figure cared for them. From dispensing medicine to rubbing bellies to cleaning up disgusting messes to comforting them when fevers turned into delirium, the pups have seen Ryder stay with them through it all.

But sick? Him? Somehow, he'd managed to avoid it. They couldn't figure it out for the life of them, how Ryder could stay so strong and healthy with everything that could, would and had happened.

The pups had been through a scare a few years back, and even then, they felt as if they never did enough to take care of the handler who gave them pretty much everything. They often wondered how they could repay him, how they could show how much they apricated everything he'd done for them.

When that time finally came, Ryder would learn that his pups, his family, would always be by his side and help him. And he couldn't have asked for a better family to love.

It stared out like any other day- well, almost. The team was on day 14 of non stop rescuing. While the weather was perfect, a beautiful, breezy spring afternoon, and the pups and Ryder should have been enjoying it, they had been busy. Very, very busy.

One thing after another kept arising that needed the PAW Patrol- from rescuing Chickaletta, Cornelius, Mayor Goodway and Alex from all sorts of hijicks, to helping the mayor fix and clean City Hall, to other, well, odd requests from the residents of Adventure Bay. Even Ryder was wondering what was going on in this city as they ran themselves ragged.

One evening, after the longest water rescue ever known that featured Capt'n Turbot, Wally the Walrus, and an insane amount of stinky squid jerky bait, Ryder called the pups to the upper level of the Lookout. It took all the energy for the six hardworking pups just to get to the elevator, and even hyperactive Marshall was beyond exhausted and didn't bother with a classic wipeout. Instead, he staggered inside the elevator and plopped next to Rubble and Rocky, both of whom were struggling to stay awake.

"What, no wipeout today, Marshall?" Chase lightly joked. Marshall waved a paw at his best friend, too tired to lift his head to look at him.

"Honestly, Chase, I'm completely wiped out!" he returned the joke in kind, earning a few light chuckles from the pup pile. Chase looked up as the elevator doors closed and began moving upwards.

"You think there's another rescue?" he wondered, trying to maintain professional posture. But even he couldn't do it, and he sagged at the thought of yet ANOTHER request. "I really can't take another rescue tonight; my paws are about ready to fall off!"

"You'we telling me, dude." Zuma agreed. He and Skye were leaning on each other, Skye half asleep. "That water rescue was WAY too long, even for me, and I love water! What on eawth was Captain Tuwbot doing so far out fwom Adventuwe Beach, anyways?"

Grunts of confusion were Zuma's only answer. Finally, Rubble spoke. "Don't ask, Zuma. It's Capt'n Turbot. I don't get how he gets himself home to his lighthouse sometimes."

Before anyone could agree or disagree to the statement, the elevator stopped at the changing room. Chase hit the button to allow the elevator to go past it, since the pups had been too tired to get out of their usual gear earlier. It continued its ascent up the Lookout Tower quietly- Marshall, Skye and now Rubble were two steps away from completely falling asleep, Rocky was looking out the windows to keep his mind awake, and Zuma was resting his head on his paws next to Skye, fighting sleep himself. None of the pups were up for much conversation after all the action they've dealt with alone today.

Chase was the only one still sitting up, but as the elevator came closer and closer to the mission room, dread built up in his stomach. "Please, please, please let there be no missions..." he mumbled to himself.

The few minutes of peace they had was cut short as the elevator reached its final destination. Three sleepy pups lifted their heads and stared at the door.

"Oh man... this is going to be a long night..." Marshall mumbled tiredly. The others agreed.

Once the door opened, one by one, the tired pups dragged their beaten bodies out into normal lineup, lacking the usual enthusiasm they normally had. Even Chase had to force his head up, he was that tired. He nudged Rocky to wake Skye up, who had fallen asleep sitting up. Once she was a bit more awake, Chase looked at Ryder.

"P-PAW Patrol, ready for-" Chase was interrupted by a yawn, which soon made its way up and down the line. "-for action, Ryder, sir."

Ryder was smiling, and Chase noticed the mission screen wasn't on. He blinked, then rubbed his eyes, making sure he wasn't in some weird dream. "Uhhh, Ryder, sir? Is everything okay? The monitor-"

"I know, Chase." Ryder yawned himself before he put his hands on his hips and smiled. "There is no mission tonight. I have an announcement to make."

Now that caught the pups attention. They all sat up straighter and some of their tails wagged- Ryder sounded excited about something. "Is it a really big bone? Do we get extra treats?" Rubble happily wondered, his tummy growling in agreement. The others shook their heads and laughed.

"Not exactly, Rubble. Listen, pups." Ryder approached them and knelt in front of them.

"You've all been working very hard, and despite all the craziness that goes on around here, you've been handling it very well. So I was thinking..." Ryder pulled out his pup pad and held it up to them.

"Everest and Jake are away at a snowboarding competition, and Carlos and Tracker are doing some major archeologist digging and aren't going to be finished any time soon. So I was thinking, if you pups want-"

Chase's eyes widened as he began to catch on to what Ryder was asking. His tail wagged like mad as he jumped into Ryder's arms, licking his cheeks and face. "You mean we can finally-?!"

The other pups were just confused. They looked at one another for answers, and all they received were shrugs and looks of 'I have no idea.'

Marshall finally asked what everyone was thinking- "We can finally what, Chase? Ryder?"

Chase looked at his friends and smiled widely. "Pups, we finally have a free day! We can do whatever we want to tomorrow! He really meant it when he said no missions! Yahooo!"

It took the exhausted pups' a few moments to register that. After that, howls, yips and barks of happiness echoed throughout their Lookout home. Ryder was pummeled with Chase, Marshall and Rubble jumping happily on top of him, while Rocky and Zuma high pawed each other and Skye, although physically tired, managed to flip for joy. Finally, an actual day off!

Ryder had to admit, he definitely understood the pups' over excitement for having some time to do things they wanted to do- he was honestly excited when he had gotten the call from Mayor Goodway earlier that day, even if he did try to argue it.

Earlier that morning...

"W-Wait. Are you sure about that, Mayor Goodway?" Ryder questioned for the tenth time already. He was looking at his pup pad in disbelief as Mayor Good nodded her head and smiled.

"Yes, Ryder. You and the PAW Patrol have always done so much for this city, and I don't know where we would be without you!" she said gratefully. Chickaletta's head popped into view, clucking in her usual cute but clueless way. Ryder and Goodway chuckled before they resumed the conversation.

"But Mayor Goodway, seriously. You don't have to do this. The PAW Patrol-"

"Exactly my point! The PAW Patrol managed EVERYTHING in this town! But you forget, you are all young children and you need time off, too!" She seemed very adamant about the whole day off thing. Ryder walked outside and looked at his pups from the balcony.

All of them were fast asleep in a pup pile after a hectic rescue, none of them even bothering to get inside their pup houses and change out of their gear. Ryder felt warmth in his chest as he watched them sleep.

"You see?" Mayor Goodway's soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts. She saw the small, warm smile forming on Ryder's face, and was glad he was beginning to see reason. "You all work too hard, and even with that party we threw for you to show our appreciation, you all still had to work in order for the party to be a success! Ryder, please... please consider taking the day off. We've already gotten volunteers to cover anything that needs covering, and Cap't Turbot will take care of the beach."

Ryder lowered his head. Although he was grateful for the event, and all the pups truly did enjoy setting up for the whole thing, even he had to admit the past few weeks were taking their toll. He was feeling weak, like his body was about to give in at any moment, and his head was constantly hurting from having to lead, plan and execute so many different missions and orders.

"Please, Ryder. You and the pups take the day off? We are the adults here, we can handle one day without the PAW Patrol saving us!"

'Can you guys really do that?" Ryder thought to himself. But then again, she had a point. A very good point. Maybe one day couldn't hurt. Just one.

"Alright, Mayor Goodway." Ryder finally answered. He straightened up and headed back inside. She had a point. If he kept going like this, he was bound to get himself stressed and sick. "We'll take the day off tomorrow-"

He was cut off by a sudden cough. Nothing major, just sudden and strange. He frowned as he wiped his mouth and cleared his throat. Mayor Goodway was worried herself- it was only a matter of time, and Ryder didn't look too good.

"Ryder? Are you alright? Do you need another few days-?"

"No, Mayor Goodway. I'm fine. I'll tell the pups later on about the day off. Talk to you later!" Ryder quickly ended the call before she could ask anything else, tossing his Pup Pad on his bean bag chair. He leaned against the elevator for a moment, catching his breath.

"Yeah... we're all just tired. Me included. One day of rest and then I'll be fine." Ryder convinced himself as he went to wake his pups and give them the good news.

Ryder coughed again as the three pups finally hopped off his chest and chatted about what they wanted to do tomorrow. Chase glanced over at Ryder, and noticed that Ryder looked... beat. Really, really beat. He was struggling to walk back to the elevator, which was way different compared to a few moments ago, his hand massging his temples. Chase didn't want to say anything, but he was a little worried.

'He really needs to rest. I'm sure glad we have this day off. I wonder if he can take another day off...hmm...'

The next day, Marshall, Rubble and Zuma went to the beach, Skye went to hang out with Ace and practice her trick flying, Rocky was off at the city dump looking for salavaged and reuseable parts to add to his collection, and Chase was still working as a lifeguard, making sure all was in order and no one was doing anything dangerous.

Ryder couldn't help but smile at Chase's request to be the lifeguard on duty. Since he first adopted him, Chase had always been the responsible older pup, despite Everest being the oldest. Maturity definitely happened early, and Chase embraced it well... sometimes a little TOO well.

He did tell Chase to enjoy himself and have a little fun, too, but the German Shepard pup was adamant about taking his post as lifeguard today, despite Ryder assuring him that Capt'n Turbot would be doing that. He also insisted that he would check in with the young boy every so often until his shift ended.

'What a good pup, but he still needs to enjoy his day off.' Ryder thought. 'I wonder why he wants to patrol the beach? Mayor Goodway told me the captain would be watching the beach. Chase, just enjoy your day off, okay?'

Then again, Ryder continued as he headed for his room, he wasn't really in a position to talk- he often forgot he was a child himself, just shy of his 11th birthday. But here he was, his city's best and only savior, and a big human brother to six little heroic pups. He got them a home, built all their machines and vehicles, trained them to do six very unique and different jobs, and all with a patience and love that rivaled any parent-

He paused. Well, he assumed he was better than any parent. He had no clue what parents actually did since his were no longer around. But he had pretty decent role models to learn from. 'Pretty decent MOST of the time. Other times, I really wonder how this town got along so well before we came.'

As he opened his bedroom door, Ryder checked his PupPad for anyone who may of tried to reach him. He sighed in relief when he saw no missed called- Mayor Goodway simply send a text from her and Chickaletta- 'Enjoy your day, Ryder and pups! Don't you worry about anything but having fun! We'll be fine and we can handle it!'

Ryder placed his pad down on his desk and looked at his bed. Yeah, usually he was here to lend a hand- and paw- if someone "yelped for help". That was their thing, after all.

Just not today. Mayor Goodway was right- the city should be able to handle themselves. They were adults, after all. It really couldn't hurt to actually act his age for once and take a break- and by break, he meant sleep and catch up on his video games.

Ryder swiped to the left on his pad, and checked off a few to-dos he'd gotten done over the course of the week- he finished fixing Chase's truck after the winch snapped off, tuned his ATV for the millionth time this week, finally got Marshall to get rid of some seriously smelly chew toys he'd had tucked away in the back of his pup house, had Rubble help Mayor Goodway clean off the Chickletta statue, cleaned out his rather messy bedroom and did a small load of laundry.

"Jeez..." Ryder mused as he clicked off his PupPad and placed it on its charger. "What a crazy two weeks... I'm glad I can sleep in for once." He felt a headache coming on yet again and rubbed his forehead.

"Man, my head is killing me... but I think I'm out of aspirin." he mumbled. "Maybe I should take a quick nap first, then play the game."

Being a ten year old came with the logic that no matter how much his body bothered him, he could still play a video game. And he was determined to do that this time around.

Ryder changed into his PJs, made a quick ham and cheese sandwich and grabbed a glass of water for lunch, and headed back to his bedroom for a much overdue gameplay of one of his favorite games- 'Puppy Runner: Save the Princess!'

"Wonder how the-" He was cut off by another sudden cough, followed by a strange tickle in the back of his throat. "-the pups are doing. Hopefully they're having a good time... I have to remember to make dinner for them later..."

Ryder settled in for the next three hours, periodically checking on his pups, talking to Chase for a few moments when the police pup called in, and slowly eating his lunch as he played his video game. As he made it to the final boss, he began dropping off to Dreamland, his game loosely dangling in his hands. He'd jerk awake from time to time, thinking he heard something and making a lot of clumsy mistakes against the final boss of the game.

Ultimately, though, sleep won. Ryder's body crashed and he was fast asleep, his game resting on his lap.

And done! Quick note:

I was playing around with this idea for a while- I noticed that there wasn't a lot of Ryder-centric stories on this site, and even in the show, save for "Pups Save Ryder", I've never really seen Ryder be cared for or anything like that. With that, this idea came about, and I'm looking forward to working on it.

In any case, please let me know what you all think.

Until next chapter!